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Daffy - The Commando
Daffy - The Commando is a 1943 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. Plot A German commander, Von Vultur, gets a telefunken from the "Gestinko Gestapo", threatening him with his 'ka-rear' if he lets "Vun-More-Kommando" through. The telegram in translated English reads 'vun more kommando ...'. In the original, very broken German, it reads, "Dummy! A sauerkraut potato soup isn't eaten made with veal. Signed The Apfen of History. "From left to right, the "Apes of Wrath" are Hitler, Hirohito, and Mussolini.The music playing is from Wagner's opera Das Rheingold. Hearing a plane overhead, he calls in a soldier, Schultz, whom he abuses by knocking him regularly over his helmet with a mallet. Schultz and Von Vultur go outside and use a searchlight to look for Daffy, who is floating down on a parachute, whilst singing in a Cockney accent. After a quick "Put out those lights!" gets the lights out, Daffy uses his fingers to make shadow puppets and dancing chorus girls. When Von Vultur chases Daffy behind a curtain of asbestos, Daffy makes a face similar to the stereotypical Japanese faces used in cartoons at the time (see, for example, Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips), causing Von Vultur to run off frightened. Back at his bunker,there is a semi-nude photo of a woman on the wall in Von Vultur's bunker. Daffy addresses Von Vultur as "Liederkranz", after the smelly cheese, is presented with a bomb from Daffy, ticking down. Von Vultur hands the bomb off to Schultz, who is blown through the roof. When Schultz falls back, Daffy stops Von Vultur from hitting Schultz over the head with a mallet, and instead hits him. Von Vultur (pausing briefly to salute a skunk with "Heil Hitler!") chases Daffy to a telephone booth, which Daffy possibly calls it a "Telefunk" booth, where Daffy continues to make fun of Von Vultur.The telephone booth scene has Von Vultur thinking he's talking to Schultz, but finds himself talking to operator Myrt from the Fibber McGee & Molly radio show. Daffy then jumps in a plane, narrowly avoiding being shot by 'a mess of Messerschmitts', referring to the Nazi Messerschmitt BF 109 Light fighter aircraft, when he's shot down by Von Vultur (his plane literally being blown to pieces). Daffy then runs into a howitzer, and is shot out by Von Vultur. However, Daffy flies (as the 'Human Cannonball') into Berlin, where (a largely rotoscoped) Hitler is making a speech to his people Hitler's speech is nonsense: "Haben Sie nicht Liebe? ... alle zusammen ... Ach, du lieber. Mein Herr. Mein Pupkin. Mein Milch. Mein heilige ... (the music used in the background is similar to an organ grinder.) Daffy jumps up and whacks Hitler on the head with a mallet, causing Hitler to yell for Schultz, similar to Von Vultur. The Telephone Booth Scene A scene where Daffy is on a pay phone as Von Vultur is trying to get into the booth has Daffy speaking to him in German, while holding cue card-like signs with the dialogue translated for the audience (a classic example of "breaking the fourth wall"). In many public domain prints, the signs are illegible (due to the poor quality of the PD prints), but read as follows: *Daffy 1: Kannst du nicht sehen diese telefunk ist busy? Bleiben sie ruhig! ''("Can you not see this tele radio is busy? Stay calm!") **Sign 1: ''ENGLISH TRANSLATION: "Can't you see this telephone is busy? Wait your turn!" *Daffy 2: Bitte, mein herr, haben sie ein ein pfennigstück? ("Please, my lord, have they a penny a piece?") Danke schön.("Thank you.") **Sign 2 TWO MORE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS: "Got a nickel, bud?"/"Thanks." *Daffy 3: "It's all yours, Von Limburger!" **Sign 3: GERMAN TRANSLATION: "Ich bin fertig mit der telefon, Herr Von Limburger." ("I'm done with the phone, Mr. Von Limburger.") When Von Vultur enters the phone booth, he attempts to contact Shultz, but instead gets an operator, "Ist dat you Myrt?" (Myrtle The Operator was the never-heard switchboard operator in the highly successful Fibber McGee radio show of that era. "Is that you Myrt?" was a popular catchphrase in the show, and subsequently, in many Warner Brothers cartoons, which took situations from radio dramas and comedies as their inspiration.) Gallery 'Lobby Cards' 'Screencaps' Availability *VHS, Laserdisc - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons (unrestored) *Laserdisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2, Side 8: The Art of Daffy (unrestored) *DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc 2 Additionally, since this short has fallen into the public domain, it can be found on unauthorized video releases. Notes *This short, as well as a few other Warner shorts, is in the public domain, after United Artists (successor-in-interest to Associated Artists Productions) neglected to renew the copyright in time. :*Although it is in the public domain, it is currently withheld from American TV packages due to stereotypes of Germans and propaganda in World War II. References Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Daffy Duck Category:Daffy Duck shorts Category:Directed by Friz Freleng Category:Story by Michael Maltese Category:Written by Michael Maltese Category:Animation by Bob McKimson Category:Animated by Bob McKimson Category:Animation by Robert McKimson Category:Animated by Robert McKimson Category:Music by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling Category:1943 Category:1943 films Category:1943 shorts Category:1940s shorts Category:1940s films Category:1940s Category:Leon Schlesinger Studios Category:Leon Schlesinger Productions Category:Produced by Leon Schlesinger Category:Vitaphone short films Category:Warner Bros. shorts Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:Shorts Category:Animated shorts Category:Films